Run, Run Faster
by captainstrange
Summary: At the start of the zombie outbreak, Kelsie Erickson found herself traveling with her boyfriend and his brother. Together, they must fight the walking dead to see another day. But with Rick Grimes' appearance, things start to fall apart for the three. Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1: The Outbreak

**Run, Run Faster**

**Chapter 1: The Outbreak**

* * *

><p><em>I can't remember the start of the world's end. All I remember is sitting in my classroom, after giving the students their assignment when my boyfriend had ran in, grabbing my arm. Screaming about needing to leave with his older brother to head to Atlanta. The students had laughed, thinking he was insane. But I knew better. I had happily followed him out of the school, which was when I got my first encounter with the undead. I was sure a scream escaped my lips, drawing attention to us.<br>_

"Kelsi, Kelsi!"  
>She turned to see who was speaking, breaking her from her thoughts. The truck had stopped, and the elder of the two brothers had gotten out and walked ahead. She smiled apologetically to her boyfriend, kissing his cheek lightly.<br>"Sorry, I must have zoned out."  
>"I noticed. You keep doing that since we left. You sure you are okay?"<br>She nodded, getting out of the truck and walked up the road, following the other people getting out of their cars. She heard her boyfriend following behind her, reaching her arm back for him to take. When their hands joined together, they went in search of the brother. It wasn't long before they found him, he was talking to a guy very rudely about what had happened.  
>"Even at the world's end, he is still an asshole," Kelsie commented as she approached him, earning a chuckle from the asshole's younger brother.<br>"Hey, I heard that princess. And don't think I won't kick ya ass," he smirked, pretending to hit her.  
>"Are you guys a family?"<br>A woman had just got out of the car that the guy was leaning against.  
>"They are. I'm just an add-on," Kelsie explained, wrapping her arms around the brothers.<br>"Treat her like family though," the older one said.  
>"I'm Lori, this is my friend Shane and my son, Carl is in the car."<br>"Nice to meet you all. I'm Kelsie, and this asshole is Merle," Kelsie hit him in the ribs, laughing. "And this little cutie is Daryl."  
>"I ain't no cutie," her boyfriend frowned, squeezing her side.<br>More people surrounded them, all trying to get a look at what was happening. Only thing that could be seen were miles and miles of cars, all doing the same thing. Sitting there.  
>"What were you giving Shane a hard time for?" Kelsie asked Merle, an eyebrow raised as she waited for his answer.<br>"He got in my face for wanting to pass. You know how it is, Kels." Merle grinned, trying to help himself.  
>A young boy got out of the car that Lori had not long exited. Carl. Kelsie smiled down at him before pouncing at Merle, laughing. The pair continued to play fight, with Daryl looking on with an amused expression. When they broke apart, each declaring that they won, a woman was talking to Lori. She had a young girl standing with her.<br>"What's happened?" the woman asked, obviously she didn't get a good look before hitting the road.  
>Lori shrugged in reply, wrapping her arm around her son's shoulders. A bright light flashed over the miles of cars, and could be seen for several miles after. Atlanta was not safe.<p>

* * *

><p>The two groups, as well as the woman, her daughter and husband and a couple more had decided to group together and find camp somewhere. The woman had introduced herself as Carol, her daughter was Sophia and husband was Ed. His presence did not make Kelsie happy, something the Dixon brothers could sense. Two sisters, Andrea and Amy, had also tagged along not long after the explosion. As well as an elderly man, Dale. As they continued up the road, heading away from Atlanta, they were joined by several more people. They found a quarry, and everyone started to set up camp. Kelsie and the brothers set their tent up down by the water, wanting to be away from everyone. Nova wasn't a huge people person, but she was friendly. She did prefer the quieter areas though, which was how she met Daryl several years ago. Roaming the woods, looking for a cool place to hang out and read her books.<br>"Hey, Kels, think you could help me with this," Merle called out to her, gesturing for her to help put up the single tent.  
>"When you stop being an asshole," she replied, before marching over and helping.<br>Daryl was going through the things they had brought. Several weapons, any that they could find quickly. A couple bags of clothes. They had little food, so he guessed that he would go out hunting eventually. Basically, they had the essentials. He grabbed the sleeping bags, heading over to the tent.  
>"We are gonna need these," he stated, putting them down by the tent.<br>"Hey, Daryl, tell Kels that she should go hunting with you tomorrow. So you can finally teach her how to use your crossbow."  
>"Babe, tell this asshole that during an apocalypse is not a good time to teach someone a skill."<br>Daryl shrugged, not enjoying the fact that he had just been dragged into another one of their arguments. While he loved them both, he did not love their arguing.  
>"Her choice, man," he mumbled, grabbing his crossbow and counted how many arrows he had.<p>

The following morning, Kelsie was jolted awake by Merle leaving the tent. _Asshole_, she thought as she rolled over and buried her face in Daryl's chest.  
>"Mornin'," Daryl mumbled, dropping a kiss to the top of her head as an arm wrapped around her. A response followed but it was nothing he could make out. "If you could repeat."<br>"Morning to you too, handsome," she repeated, lifting her head as she spoke.  
>"Did he wake ya?"<br>She nodded in reply, kissing his chin before grabbing her shirt and slipping it on. Daryl wrapped an arm around her waist, sitting up and dropping kisses to her shoulder.  
>"Merle was right last night... I don't understand why you don't want to learn," he whispered, holding her close.<br>"I just don't think right now is a good time to teach me something." She turned her head to look at him, catching his lips in a tender kiss.  
>"Okay, okay. But you are gonna have to learn sometime. To protect yourself. From them."<br>She sighed, she knew he wouldn't understand. But he did have a point. The reason they started talking in the first place was because a, they had been alone in the woods. And b, they both had a similar background.  
>"Kelsie," Daryl spoke, breaking the silence that had been lurking between them.<br>"Maybe once things have settled down a bit, okay?" She smiled to show that she meant it, kissing him sweetly.  
>"Okay," he nodded, pulling her closer for a hug.<br>"I love you, Daryl Dixon. And don't you forget it."  
>He chuckled, pressing a tender kiss to her lips before they both got dressed for their days ahead.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Grow Up

**Run, Run Faster**

**Chapter 2: Grow Up**

Kelsie walked up to join the main group, watching as Carl and Sophia played with Morales' kids. Amy waved her over, and she happily obliged. All the adults, minus the Dixon brothers were crowded round, looking at Shane. It seemed he had deemed himself leader of the group that had formed. Kelsie rolled her eyes at that, but decided to listen to what he had to say.  
>"Right, so it seems as though we are joining together during this time of need. But everyone is gonna need to pull their weight around here, otherwise you will be asked to leave. Some people will need to go on supply runs every now and then so we can keep on top of food, and I'd also like the women to do the cooking and laundry-"<p>

"Oh hell no," Kelsie cut him off. "I ain't being a slave."

"What makes you so special, just because you are camping down there with the brothers from hell?" Andrea snapped.

"You might wanna take that back, otherwise I will kick your ass," she replied, shoving Andrea's shoulders.

"Take what back? The insult to your two boyfriends? Well, it's true. Two rednecks from hell."  
>Kelsie had had enough of Andrea's insults, and took her down with several punches to her face. It wasn't long before arms wrapped around her waist, pulling the brunette off the blonde. She struggled, till she realized they were Daryl's.<br>"What happened here?" Merle demanded, looking around at the group. They all stayed silent, not wanting to answer.

"That bitch insulted you both," Kelsie glared, feeling Daryl take her hand and kiss her head. The brunette was known to be a hot-head, which is why she got on so well with the brothers.

"I was insulting you too, if you didn't realize," Andrea said, wiping the blood from her lip.  
>Kelsie went to attack her again, but Daryl held her back.<br>"Hey! I will not stand for fighting in this group. If you have a problem with each other, you will deal with it without violence. There is gonna be enough of that as there is," Shane's voice came over them.  
>Daryl scoffed, pulling Kelsie away from the group to talk to her quietly.<br>"Won't be no fighting if sugartits kept her thoughts to herself," Merle stated. "Would be a lot easier to live together then, wouldn't it?"

"I should be able to express my opinion," Andrea retorted.

"Then no one should complain when Kelsie gets sick of your shit and kills you," Merle replied, walking back to the tent.  
>The pair were stood near the edge, arms wrapped around each other as they spoke softly. Daryl pressed another kiss to her head, squeezing her shoulder. It was the first time they were alone, even slightly and they both wanted to enjoy the moment. Even before the outbreak, the couple rarely got a moment to their selves with Kelsie working and Merle always being at the house.<br>"I want you to teach me how to use your crossbow," she said, looking up at him.

"I don't have too, if you don't want too."

"No, I want too. And might as well learn now," Kelsie smiled, kissing his cheek.

"We can go out hunting now if you want. I could kill for some squirrel," Daryl smirked.

"Race ya!" Kelsie challenged, before running off to the tent, with Daryl closely following.  
>The couple reached the tent, Daryl catching her in his arms with a grin. She laughed, throwing her head back on his shoulder as he span her around. Merle watched from afar, seeing the couple having fun with an amused expression.<p>

When the couple came back later in the day, Kelsie raced down to the tent to show Merle the squirrel she had killed. Daryl had chuckled when she realized that she had hit her target, and had to admit that she was a fast learner. He followed her down, ignoring the glares from the other group members that he received. When Daryl joined them, Merle was congratulating the brunette and talking about going to find her a crossbow of her own.  
>"Teach you to make arrows as well," Merle grinned. "And skin animals."<p>

"I can't wait," she grinned back, handing her squirrel to Merle for him to skin before going into the tent and closing the door up. Daryl joined his brother, taking his string of squirrels off and putting his crossbow down.  
>"Did ya proud?" the older Dixon asked, to which the younger one nodded.<p>

"First shot and she got that. I would say beginners luck, but then she got two more. That's when I said we should come back so we could skin 'em and cook 'em."

"Either you are a good teacher or she's a fast learner. We'll go with the second one."  
>Daryl shook his head, starting to skin the squirrels with his brother.<br>Minutes passed and Kelsie finally came out of the tent with a smirk. The brothers looked at her expectantly. She stood in front of them, before unbuttoning her button-up one at a time. Daryl had a confused expression on his face till she held over her shirt to show off a gray tank top. 'Dixon Crossbow Training Academy' was written in marker, causing the brothers to laugh. Daryl pressed a kiss to his girlfriends lips, smiling against them.

* * *

><p>Weeks had passed since then, and yet again a group of people were being sent out. Glenn was going, like always. Joining him were Morales, T-Dog, Jacqui and, to Kelsie's disgust, Andrea. The brunette had also offered to go, because she did need a few things but Shane shot her down with it being a bad idea. Daryl made a comment about Andrea not being able to use a gun. That cheered Kelsie up, as well as the fact that Merle offered to go instead of her. Shane had no reason to not let him go, so he agreed reluctantly.<br>The brothers were currently stood near the cars, talking about something. Merle laughed as he watched Kelsie walk over to them. Daryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she passed the older Dixon her list. Merle read over it with a nod.  
>"Obviously, don't worry if you can't get everything on the list."<p>

"It's all okay, Kels. I will try my hardest," Merle promised.  
>Kelsie nodded, kissing both of the brothers cheeks before going over to the tent and grabbing the two crossbows.<br>"You two going hunting then?" Merle asked. "Well, if you catch anything nice, save it for me."

"Always do, Merle. Stay safe."

"Always do, little brother," Merle grinned before going off to join the rest of the group.

Daryl walked over to Kelsie, taking his crossbow off her and putting it over his shoulder. Their hands laced together as they walked into the woods silently.  
>"I want some deer jerky," Kelsie commented. "Think we could find a deer?"<p>

"We should be able too. Maybe further down the mountains though."

Kelsie shrugged and started to walk, each shooting an arrow at the little critters they saw and smirking at the other when their arrow hit first. It wasn't a normal relationship, but it was them. It was what made them happy, and who gives a damn if they didn't act like adults all the time? In this world, you were gonna have to grow up faster than expected.


End file.
